Focusing In

One of the biggest challenges for dentists when it comes to dental photography is dealing with the focus of the camera. Well, what if you never had to focus again? What if you could worry about the focus after the photo was taken? This is a really cool concept in cameras and I'll definitely be following this over the next few months.

The Eyes Have It

The Future of computing: eye movement recognition. Check it out!

Feeling Blu

Playing Blu-ray movies on the go on a laptop or in the living room on an HTPC with a Blu-ray drive doesn't have to be difficult, but if you want true HD video quality and the experience of navigating disc extras and menus, you'll need a Blu-ray media player that's up to the task. Here are five of the best Blu-ray compatible media players.

Dinner Guest

A "guest mode" on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch would be a very useful feature. Fortunately for those of you who jailbreak, you can have that feature right now.
iUsers is a jailbreak tweak the will give you the ability to run multiple user accounts on your iDevice. It was designed for iPad, so it works properly there, but if you don't mind a few quirks you can still use it on an iPhone or iPod touch as well. To get it set up, follow these steps.

Drip Droopy

If you’re looking for a dead simple way for people to share files with you, Droopy is a mini web server with a singular function: helping people upload files to your computer.

Not everyone is technically inclined and sometimes you need people with little technical know-how to share files with you. Droopy makes it as simple as giving them a URL pointing to your home computer/server. You run the python-based web server on your computer, make sure there is an open port on your firewall, and anyone you share the URL with can share the files as easily as sending an email attachment.

Printer Madness

Even though computer printers are relatively ubiquitous, you can’t just go pull one off the shelf and be guaranteed a good fit for your needs. Read on as we detail the ins and outs of buying a home printer.

Music to My Ears

Many dental practices like to play music in the office, usually for the benefit of the patients but often for the staff as well. While Windows has its own music player, it's not especially good. Here are 14 Free music players that work with Windows.

Face the Music

I've been a huge fan of DemandForce for years. Did you know they now integrate with Facebook? Make appts from FB?? http://bit.ly/hIHJWL

Clickity Clack

ClikTech, Inc. a manufacturer of dental sensor and x-ray film holders announces the release of two new evolutionary products, ShaRing™ Universal Ring and Litening™ Rods.

ShaRing™ is a single ring designed to replace the need for three separate rings used in a full mouth series. Anterior, posterior and bitewing radiographs may now be taken with just one single ring, saving time, money and space. The ring is completely autoclavable and is compatible with existing metal anterior, posterior and bitewing rods from most manufacturers. It incorporates wire clips for any digital sensor.

Working closely with XDR Radiology and Adam Chen, DDS, Litening Rods ™ is the latest development of an existing radiology standard. Metal rods have been used for decades in dental offices. Although effective, they are costly and prone to pin breakage. Litening Rods™ eliminates these issues. Constructed of solid high heat plastic resin, these rods are completely autoclavable, reusable and both low cost and light weight. They have the added benefit of incorporating a wire clip to accommodate the latest in digital sensors and work with any standard anterior, posterior or bitewing ring in addition to ShaRing™.

“We have reached a time where we can combine both new and old technologies to produce the best available products at the most reasonable cost to the dental profession,” relates Thomas Gillen, President of Design and Manufacturing at ClikTech, Inc. “ShaRing™ and Litening Rods™ serve as the bridge to make the transition from older to the newest technologies significantly easier for the dental office.”

About ClikTech

ClikTech, Inc. is an ISO 9001:2008 certified company and leading provider of digital sensor holders serving the design, engineering and production needs of companies and partners nationwide. ClikTech, Inc. supports its operations with a highly reliable infrastructure of design and development of product lines and provides engineering solutions to customers and partners in the United States. More information can be found at www.clikray.com

RAM-bo

RAM is one of those upgrades everyone seems to skimp on when buying a PC, only to later wish for more. Regretting your underpowered memory purchase? Here’s how to speed up your machine by installing some additional memory.

Memory is often one the critical bottlenecks on a PC, so faster, larger stores of RAM can go a long way to making your PC perform better and with more stability. It’s not hard, even for beginner geeks. Crack open that PC in today’s hardware upgrade!

Roto Router

A wireless router can be one of the hardest pieces of technology to purchase. Sifting through all of the vendor noise and choosing which router is best suited for your purposes is a daunting task. Do you need a lesser expensive single-band router or a more expensive dual-band? Do you need to upgrade or purchase an 802.11n router? What benefits do 802.11n give? Does a higher-end router mean better Internet connectivity? These questions as well as factors like security, parental controls and extra features such as the ability to connect USB printers and external storage drives to a router for sharing in your personal network, are all considerations to weigh when deciding to purchase or upgrade a router. Here's a list of the best ones out there.

How Do

We handle a lot of different topics throughout the year, and our how-to guides come in a wide range of sizes and subjects, but the goal is always the same: to make it easy for you to accomplish something awesome. Here's a look back at our most popular how-to features of 2011.

Time Warp

Ever wanted to restore a file from the past, but don’t have a good way to do it? With System Restore Explore you can mount a System Restore snapshot, and browse a past copy of your entire drive. Head over to the developer’s website and grab yourself a free copy of System Restore Explorer.

Webinar Tonight

We’ve previously introduced benefits of cloud computing and file sharing for dentists. Now, it’s time to look at how this is truly benefiting the practices who have taken advantage of it by referring patient records online.


Space is limited.Reserve your Webinar seat now at:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/751544978

Private Eyes

At computer tips and tricks blog Addictive Tips they’ve put together a comparison of 7 popular and free VPN services. Whether you’re trying to lock down your connection at an open Wi-Fi hotspot, tunnel your traffic , or just want an extra layer of security for your home connection, you’re sure to find a free VPN solution in here.

I Can See Clearly

Houston, Texas—January 11, 2012—ClearCorrect™, the manufacturer of orthodontic clear aligners(named America’s fastest-growing health company for 2011 by Inc. magazine), recently launched Phase Out™, a new project focused on making a difference.
In a post on the company’s blog, ClearCorrect CEO, Jarrett Pumphrey, said, “Five years ago, we started ClearCorrect out of a passion to help. Doctors had no choice in clear aligners, and we wanted to change that.Since then, we've remained focused on changing the clear aligner industry. Well, now our ambitions have grown. I’m very happy to announce Phase Out, a new ClearCorrect project we’re kicking off this year.The purpose of the project: To change the world.”

ClearCorrect’s unique phase-based approach to clear aligners is at the heart of the project: Every ClearCorrect case includes a certain number of phases (a phase is a box with 4 sets of clear aligners). More often than not, a few phases are left over at the end of treatment. Starting January 1, 2012, for each leftover phase, $20 will go toward phasing out life-impacting issues for people in need.
ClearCorrect is partnering with charity: water to launch the first of several Phase Out initiativesenvisioned for the project: phase out unsafe drinking water.
“It’s unbelievable that nearly a billion people on the planet still don’t have access to something so basic as clean drinking water,” says Pumphrey. “charity: water is an incredible organization working to change that. They have a big job to do, and we want to help them.”

Through Phase Out, every time a phase is left over at the end of ClearCorrect treatment, $20 will gotoward building wells and other water projects in developing nations with charity: water. One phase = one person with access to clean, safe drinking water.
To learn more about this project or get involved, visit:http://clearcorrect.com/phaseout.

About ClearCorrect

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, ClearCorrect was founded by dentists to serve the dental and orthodontic industry by providing a more affordable and doctor-friendly clear aligner system. The system provides dentists and orthodontists an alternative to traditional metal braces when straightening teeth. With this system, teeth are straightened using a series of clear, custom, removable aligners. The company's modern, needs-based approach for serving doctors and patients has earned it a leadership position within the dental industry.
Now in its fifth year, ClearCorrect continues to gain popularity with over 11,000 dentists who are providers. For information about ClearCorrect, the company and its products, visit www.clearcorrect.com or call toll-free: (888) 331-3323.

About charity: water

charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. 100%of public donations go directly to fund sustainable water solutions in areas of greatest need. Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80 percent of diseases and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Children are especially vulnerable, as their bodies aren't strong enough to fight diarrhea, dysentery and other illnesses. Just $20 can give one person access to a clean water project. Learn more at: www.charitywater.org.

Cloudy Days

We all discover new web apps each year but not every one of them gets the recognition it deserves. With 2011 just ended, here are the ones that deserved a bit more hype.

Stuck in the Mud

If you tried to print, but the job just got stuck in the queue without being able to cancel it, you’re experiencing a stuck print job. There’s a simple way to clear out the print queue, but it’s not always the most obvious thing. Here’s how to do it.

What You Don't Know

You're a veteran tech geek. You build all your own systems. Your friends and family always look to you for advice when buying PC gear or gadgets. Yet there's still stuff you don't own, and don't realize you need.

Video Killed the Radio Star

Whether you're editing home movies to send to family and friends, or you're planning your web video takeover of YouTube, it's important to have the right tools to edit your videos before you put them where the world can see. Here are five of the best video editing tools.

Don't Leave Home Without It

Every time you leave the house with your laptop or other mobile devices, there is the possibility that they could be stolen along with all of the personal data you have on them. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has a new guide that will help you protect that data.

Fire Away

The Amazon Kindle Fire is a great tablet, but it’s a little sparse when you first take the device out of the box and power it on. There are no books to read, no music and not very many apps. Prepare yourself before leaving the house with your new toy. Here are some things you’ll want to do the first time you fire up your Kindle Fire.

Explain Away

This year, we broke down some tough subjects, from technical how-tos to internet-related law to psychological theory. Here are some of our favorite explainers from 2011.

Nestle $100,000 Bar

ST. PAUL, Minn. — January 9, 2012 — 3M ESPE announces that its groundbreaking digital impression system, the Lava™ Chairside Oral Scanner C.O.S., has exceeded 100,000 clinical cases worldwide. This milestone number of digital dental impressions marks a historical moment for dental CAD/CAM systems, digital dentistry and customer satisfaction with 3M ESPE.

Dr. Richard Cordano, of Cordano and Spears Dental in Yuba City, Calif., scanned the 100,000th digital impression. He purchased the Lava C.O.S. in October 2011 and has already completed more than 97 cases using the system in combination with Trevi Dental Studio, which uses CAD/CAM dentistry.

“The fit of restorations made with digital impressions captured by the Lava C.O.S. is phenomenal. We have a great lab but the Lava C.O.S. takes it to the next level,” said Dr. Cordano. “Digital impressions speed up the initial appointment because you know right away if you need to rescan. At final seating the contacts are right. Everything is right. We’ve been very happy with the results.”
Dentists using the system have noted improved productivity through faster seating times and more predictability when scheduling because of accurate digital impressions. In addition, the Lava C.O.S. connects to several leading dental lab scanners and CAD/CAM systems, which allows an open connection to a variety of restorations and materials.

Launched in 2008, the Lava C.O.S. features 3D-in-Motion technology, a unique tool in digital dentistry. Unlike current point-and-click technology, 3D-in-Motion allows the Lava C.O.S. to capture continuous real-time 3D video images that create a digital impression, sent directly to any laboratory, which is then used to produce precise-fitting restorations.

iEnvy

We know that when it comes to fulfilling the missions like business administration, pocket entertainment or simple communication needs, the iPhone is the best friend of ours, but what happens if you want even more from your miracle device?
Well, thanks to the geniuses who have worked hard to help improve the iPhone technology now help you to complete tasks which may seem impossible. Have you ever imagined that you can turn your iDevice into a portable big screen TV or create projections while you charge your iPhone wirelessly? Everything is possible thanks to these amazing gadgets.

Time Saver

Are you tired of constantly switching between the Most Visited Webpages and Web Apps sections in Google Chrome’s new tab page? Then you will definitely love this quick hack that lets you add your favorite websites to the Web Apps section for one stop browsing goodness.

See me Now

After watching Captain Picard solving all those Victorian murder mysteries on the Enterprise’s holodeck, we have to say that staring at a basic, flat-panel monitor is sooooo 20th century. Wasn’t the future of television watching supposed to be way cooler than this by now? Yeah, it was, but don’t worry; those spiffy high-tech displays have only been delayed, not scrapped entirely. A veritable army of hard-working engineers have been laboring day and night to bring flexible phones, holograms you can feel, physical 3D interfaces, and touchscreen, well, everything to your living room, car and workplace sometime soon. And hey, we’ve got actual pictures to prove it!

Flip Flop

In 2011, technology gifted the masses with the magic of the cloud and 4G as far as the eye can see, but the year wasn't without its disappointments. In fact, this year's tech climate bore witness to some failures of truly epic proportion: From launch letdowns to billion dollar bungles, here are the biggest technology fails of 2011.

25 Cents

COSTA MESA, CA., January 2012 – In 2012, CareCredit will celebrate its 25th Anniversary of helping patients access the care they want, when they want it. Established in 1987, CareCredit was initially offered by practices as another way for patients to pay for new dental implants. Since then, CareCredit has continued to focus solely on healthcare and has helped more than 20 million patients get care. The CareCredit healthcare credit card is now accepted at 150,000 enrolled practices nationwide including veterinary, ophthalmology, cosmetic, audiology, podiatry, chiropractic, optometry and other specialties.

“It’s been a privilege to serve the doctors and teams who make CareCredit available to patients,” said Dave Fasoli, President, CareCredit. “Reaching our silver 25th Anniversary is important, but in many ways we view it as only the beginning. Helping patients access care is a long-term commitment that we have embraced as a company. We will continue to work hard to meet patients’ changing needs, so more can hear better, see better, feel more confident and smile bigger.”

Doctors agree offering CareCredit as another payment option is the right thing to do for patients. “Twenty-five years ago, I added CareCredit because I believe every patient should have access to my best care recommendations,” explains Dr. Gary Weiner, the first doctor to add CareCredit. “Patients want to be healthy and many prefer a payment option that’s convenient for them. In any economy, CareCredit is relevant and helpful to patients.” Dr. Ross Drangsholt, the 150,000th doctor to make the program available added, “Patients need another way to pay for their Orthodontic care. We had tried another program, but were not getting the approval rates or service we needed. Adding CareCredit just made sense, especially today.”

CareCredit, a healthcare credit card, is available at over 150,000 enrolled practices across the country. CareCredit is exclusively selected for their members by most state and national dental associations, including ADA Business ResourcesSM, AGD, AAOMS, and AAP and is also recommended by leading practice management consultants.

Tracks of My Tears

Has someone you know used a public peer-to-peer network to download ‘files of interest’ and were curious if there was a record of it? Then a quick visit to youhavedownloaded.com may provide for an eye opening experience. The website presents a publicly searchable database and will verify whether an IP address is on record there or not.

You can read more about how the website works, the stats for the site, its limitations, reactions from those who have found themselves on record there, and more using the link to the full blog post here.

All Together Now

So, you've jumped into social media head first, and now you have a FaceBook, Twitter, and Google+ account. Too lazy to post to all three separately? That's ok, here's how to post to all of them at the same time.

MacLovin'

2011 brought a new version of Mac OS X and plenty of great Mac-oriented content. Here's a look at the most popular Mac downloads and posts this past year.